


Handsome/Attractive

by out_there



Category: Sports Night
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-02-23
Updated: 2004-02-23
Packaged: 2017-10-15 05:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/157288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/out_there/pseuds/out_there
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"Have you ever thought about the difference between attractive and handsome?"</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Handsome/Attractive

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://celli.livejournal.com/profile)[**celli**](http://celli.livejournal.com/) for not only playing cheerleader as I wrote it, but also for taking on betaing duties.

There are times when Casey looks at Dan's features with a critical eye. He notes Dan's angular face, his huge forehead and small chin. The long pointed nose that sometimes makes Casey unkindly think of the Wicked Witch of the West. The way Dan looks almost comical with his short brows raised high and the way his shapely lips seem out of place on that disorderly face.

Then Casey sees Dan's eyes light up when he tells a joke, and sees those lips stretch into a blinding smile. He watches when Dan's being serious; when his brows lower in concern, or his mouth purses in anger, or his eyes widen in surprise. Those are the moments when all he sees is Danny.

Even when he's being critical, Casey can't help but notice that Dan's very attractive.

***

Casey sits in makeup, letting them brush his hair as he studies his face under the harsh fluorescent lights. He lists the features: brown hair, proportionate forehead (not too high, not too wide), friendly eyes. Good cheekbones, solid jaw and strong chin. His face is strong enough to look manly, but there's enough softness in his features to be handsome, not harsh. His lips are even, his nose is straight and in proportion, and he thinks that's probably the best way to describe his face. Proportionately handsome. Blandly good-looking.

Sometimes, he comes back to the office to grab his coat, and sees his expression in their dark office windows. He knows how he looked after he found out that Dana was seriously seeing someone new, or when Rebecca came back. His eyes squint up, the corners of his mouth twist down and his jaw clenches tightly. It isn't an attractive expression. But even when he looks mean and jealous, he's still handsome.

***

"Have you ever thought about the difference between attractive and handsome?"

Dan looks across at him, lips quirked into a grin, eyebrows half-raised in curiosity. "Not really."

"No?" Casey asks, feeling his brows lower, glancing at the monitors just to observe the effect.

Dan's dark eyes shift to the side for a second, then return to Casey with a slight tilt of the head. "I occasionally offer thanks that I'm both." Dan shrugs and turns back to the teleprompter in front of them.

***

Expressive faces work well on television. It's probably why he and Dan are so popular. When they're on air, their audience can see how excited they are by their stories. It's easy to tell when they're saddened by a scandal or amused by a blunder, and the viewers respond well to them. It makes people feel as if they know them, and it makes some of them want to sleep with them. Dan's fan mail proves that.

Of course, expressive faces also make it difficult to hide their feelings. All across the country, people could see how furious he was during Draft Day 2000. They didn't get to see how sorry Dan was. They didn't see Dan's jaw go tense or the sincere heartbreak in his eyes. They just saw Casey's tight smile.

***

Dana approaches him before Tuesday's show, clipboard in hand. She's wearing a pale blue shirt that brings out the color of her eyes, the light blue that keeps hiding behind her long fringe. "Casey?"

Casey keeps fiddling with his tie, trying to get the knot straight. "Yeah?"

"Why have you suddenly become a narcissist?" she asks, standing a foot in front of him.

"What?" Casey frowns at the stubborn material, the knot that refuses to sit right. His lips press together and his forehead scrunches up.

"The makeup girls tell me you can't stop watching yourself in the mirror." She bats his hands out of the way, and pulls at the tie as she talks. "And you keep asking everyone if they consider you handsome and attractive."

"Or," Casey says, grimacing as Dana pulls the tie little hard around his neck.

She shakes the blonde hair out of her eyes, and tries to tie the knot again. "What?"

"Handsome or attractive." He stands very still, looking over Dana's head, seeing his weary expression in the mirror behind her. "I didn't claim I was both."

"Still..." she pauses as she gets the tie right this time. Smoothing it down, she steps back, one brow raised in speculation. "Why the sudden strange behavior?"

"Considering where we work, I hardly think it's strange." Far stranger things have happened around here. Dana's six month dating plan is probably at the top of that list.

"Why, Casey?" she asks, planting a hand on her hip.

"Just a comment a girl made," Casey lies. "I just wanted to know if I was handsome or attractive." Dana harrumphs, and rolls her eyes eloquently. "How would you describe me?"

"An idiot," she says and leans against the makeup desk. "You know you're good looking, Casey." She stands up straight and looks at him firmly. "Stop obsessing over how pretty you are, and go do my show."

Casey watches her stride away to the control room. As he walks over to the set, he thinks 'good looking' probably counts as handsome.

***

Casey finds himself bored in the rundown meeting. Isaac was called away to answer a quick phone call and Dana followed him out, telling everyone to wait here. He's waiting, he's bored and he's watching everyone else.

For some reason, Chris and Will aren't speaking to each other and Elliot is trapped in the middle of their silent feud. To Casey's left, Dan, Dave and Kim are discussing a jazz club that opened last month. At the end of the table, Jeremy is leaning over Natalie's shoulder, either finding a solution for the twenties or whispering sweet nothings in her ear. From the pleased smile on Natalie's face, it's hard to be sure.

All in all, this just leaves Casey by himself, staring at the meeting notes. Picking up his pen, he starts doodling in the margins, drawing stick figures of him and Danny behind the anchor desk. He even adds little suits, but the drawing is too small to add ties. Next, he draws the two rows of benches from the control room and adds little stickmen versions of Chris, Will, Dave and Elliot behind the first desk. At the second desk, he adds another four figures for Kim, Jeremy, Dana and Natalie.

Looking down at his scribbles, Casey realizes that they all look alike. Stealing Dan's pencil, he shades in stick-Kim and stick-Dave, and then adds their dark hair. He draws darker hair for stick-Natalie too, and then sketches a halo of blonde hair around stick-Dana. He even adds a pair of tiny glasses to stick-Jeremy as a finishing touch.

He hands the pencil back to Dan as Dana returns, and thinks that the drawing still isn't recognizable. You'd need to know who they were meant to be.

***

Casey falls into step beside Jeremy. "Walk with me to rundown."

Jeremy blinks behind his large glasses. "Walk with you?"

"Walk with me."

"Why do you want me to walk with you?" Jeremy asks, but walks with Casey anyway. "Where's Dan?"

"Meditating," Casey says quickly.

Jeremy stops and looks at him, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Meditating?"

"Well, no," he admits. "He went downstairs to find a working snack machine."

"Ah," Jeremy says, nodding slightly. Casey starts walking again and Jeremy follows. "What do you want?"

"Do you have much sway with the IT guys?" he asks quietly.

"Why?"

He stops walking and pulls Jeremy into an empty corridor. "I want to influence the Internet poll."

One of Jeremy's eyebrows rises above the thick frames of his glasses. "You want a rematch?"

"No. Different question." Casey takes a step closer, lowering his voice slightly. "I want to find out which one of us is more attractive."

"Okay," Jeremy says slowly, obviously waiting for Casey to make sense. "You wanted help cheating?"

"I don't cheat," Casey objects in a hiss, and then remembers enlisting Jeremy's help on the last poll. "Well, okay, I did, last time, but I want this one to be purely objective."

Jeremy bites his bottom lip and Casey notices just how wide Jeremy's mouth is. It seems overly generous compared to the rest of his features. "You want to prove to Dan that you're better looking?" Jeremy hazards.

Casey shakes his head. "Not better looking. The poll should be on who's... more attractive."

"I fail to see the difference," Jeremy says with a tilt of his head.

"It's, okay, it's not who is more aesthetically pleasing. It's," Casey pauses, shrugging and looking for the right words. "It's attractive. As in, causing attraction. It should show who people are attracted to."

"Ah," Jeremy nods in understanding. "And you don't want to cheat?"

Casey sighs. "I don't want to cheat."

"You know Dan will win, right?" Jeremy asks, using a finger to push his glasses up.

Casey's pretty sure Dan will, but he shrugs and says, "We'll wait and see."

***

Casey starts a list. He folds the piece of paper and divides it into quarters. On the left side he writes "Women" and on the right, "Men". The top half he labels "Good-looking" and the bottom half is titled "Attractive".

He considers the women he works with. Dana's soft blonde hair and clear blue eyes; her willowy frame and graceful walk. Natalie's bright smile, her dark hair and dark eyes, the way she scrunches her nose when she thinks Jeremy's being cute. Casey thinks about Kim's generous curves, her sultry stare and her exotic features. He even reviews Sally's statuesque figure, her inviting cleavage and long, shapely legs.

Picking up his pen, Casey writes "Dana, Natalie, Sally, Kim" beneath Good-looking. Under Attractive, he writes "Sally, Kim, Dana, Natalie".

Tapping his pen on the desk, he thinks about the guys. Slowly, he starts writing in the Good-looking column. "Casey" easily goes first, but the others take longer. "Will, Jeremy, Dan" are added, and then "Dave, Elliot, Chris". He realizes he's forgotten Isaac, so he adds him in between Dave and Elliot. Casey stares at the list for a while, turning his pen over in his hand. Eventually, he scribbles out the third and forth name and switches them around. Now, it reads, "Casey, Will, Dan, Jeremy, Dave, Isaac, Elliot, Chris".

Satisfied, Casey moves on to the Attractive list. He writes down "Dan". He's interrupted from his list making by Dan returning to their office, so Casey shoves the scrap of paper into one of his desk drawers.

***

Dan looks up from his laptop and Casey can almost feel his eyes watching him type. "What business are we in?"

"We're part of a traveling circus," Casey replies, finishing his sentence about the Knicks.

Out of the corner of his eye, Casey sees Dan blink and look up in surprise. "A traveling circus?"

Casey looks over at Dan's bewildered face, at the half-smile that threatens to emerge. "Yep. You and Dana are clowns. I wow the crowds on the flying trapeze."

Dan glares, but the corners of his lips twitch upwards. "Why are we clowns?"

"Because sometimes you're funny and sometimes you're just scary. The type of thing nightmares are made of," Casey says, watching the keyboard as he types.

Dan laughs. "You were frightened of clowns, weren't you?"

"Still am, Danny. You can't trust 'em," Casey says, looking up for a second and grimacing at the memory of bright colored faces and physically impossible cars. "They follow no logic."

Dan blinks and then says, "Okay, can we rewind to about half an hour ago when you were still sane?"

"Sure. But you might want to know that the bearded lady has a crush on you."

"Why does the...?" Dan closes his mouth mid-sentence, shaking his head.

Grinning, Casey hits save and swivels the desk chair around to face Dan. "She just does, Danny. These things are not to be questioned."

"Back to my original question," Dan says, rubbing his hand through his short hair. "What business are we in?"

"We are sports anchors, Dan." Dan makes an exaggerated sigh of relief. Casey grins and waits to find out whatever has baffled Dan. "Why do you want to know?"

"Wanted to make sure we hadn't suddenly become gigolos."

"Gigolos?" Now Casey's the one who's blinking. "Gigolos, Dan?"

Dan changes the subject with a quick wave of his hand. "Guess what this week's poll is?"

Casey looks up at the ceiling, trying to think about any confrontational games reported last week. "The Rangers strategy last game?"

Dan takes a deep breath, and says in a monotone, "Who would you rather sleep with?"

Casey blinks, surprised by the sudden non sequitur. "Huh?"

"That's this week's poll, Casey. Who would you rather sleep with: Casey McCall or Dan Rydell? They are polling our audience's sexual attraction to us," Dan says, lifting his arms out wide.

Casey smiles, amused by Dan's antics. "I thought our main demographic was males aged 18 to 35?"

"Apparently, this week's poll is aimed at our female viewers."

***

Casey goes out on a date with a woman named Rebekah. Her hair falls in a black waterfall down her back, and her sea-green eyes make him think of mermaids.

He takes her out for seafood, but she just orders the salad. Casey orders the lobster and they talk. Somehow, they start discussing first impressions. With a flirtatious smile, she says that when she first saw him, she thought he was incredibly handsome.

Casey doesn't call her for a second date. When Dan asks about her later, Casey explains that the name thing was just too weird.

***

"Care to guess the current results?" Dan asks with a grin, looking at the computer screen.

"Okay." Casey stretches back on the couch and shrugs. "How many votes in total?"

Dan's brows lower for a second. "A hundred and thirty-six, so far."

Dan's eyes sparkle with mischief, and Casey knew he'd lose before he started. "Let's see," Casey says slowly, stretching the syllables between his teeth. "You're winning?"

"That's not much of a guess, Casey."

Casey snorts and quickly thinks of the figures in his head. "You're beating me by about forty?"

Dan gives him an odd look, eyes narrowed for a second. "Actually, it's 72-64, my favor."

"Really?" Casey can't help thinking those numbers don't sound right.

Dan puts his elbows on the desk and leans forward, staring at Casey. "You know, most people would consider being sexually attractive a good thing."

"I do," Casey retorts quickly.

"Yeah?" Dan tilts his head to the side, raising his brows in a manner that's completely melodramatic. "You don't sound like it."

"I do, Danny."

"Really?"

Casey rolls his eyes, knowing Dan's only annoying him because he's bored. Bored and writing up a soccer report. "I do. I just... didn't expect your lead to be so small." Dan looks at him doubtfully, so Casey continues, "I would have thought that someone as obviously cool as you would have had a far better response."

"Did you cheat?" Dan asks, his mouth forming a cranky frown.

"No."

Dan's not going to let this go. "Did you cheat, Casey?"

"No, Dan. I didn't cheat."

"Really?" Dan asks, standing up. "Because I know how seriously you take these polls, Casey."

Casey huffs in pure annoyance. "Didn't I just say I wasn't cheating? I'm not cheating."

Dan rolls his shoulders. "Yeah, well, you said that last time, too."

"I am not cheating, Danny. This is purely objective. Totally up to our audience." Casey sighs. He can't believe Dan is still harping on about this.

Dan watches him intently, managing to stare down that long nose in disbelief. "And you're not cheating?"

Casey stands up, staring levelly back at Dan. "How many times do I have to say it? I am not cheating. I am not voting. I am not forcing anyone to vote for me. I am taking no action regarding this poll. I am actively not cheating."

Dan's face shifts, the intent stare becomes amusement with a small twitch of his lips. "You're actively taking no action, Casey?"

Casey laughs. "Yes, I am being actively inactive."

"Can I use that excuse for why the soccer intro isn't written?"

"No," Casey says firmly, then thinks better of it. "But I'll trade you for the women's basketball?"

Dan beams and raises his hands together in a mockery of prayer, strong fingers interlaced. "Thank you, Casey. I will remember this."

Casey shakes his head, smiling. "Will you remember it next time you accuse me of cheating?"

"Not really," Dan says, almost seriously. "But I promise not to hold a grudge, when I find out you really were cheating."

"Dan, I'm not cheating," Casey objects firmly.

"Sure, Casey," Dan replies with a grin, and sits down to write the WNBA intro.

***

Casey keeps an eye on the poll results that week. 72-68. 85-73. 98-81. 134-106. It's always in Dan's favor, but the results still seem strange to Casey. He even double-checked with Jeremy to make sure that there was no cheating on his behalf, and was oddly disappointed that there wasn't.

Casey's watched Dan in bars. In clubs. In restaurants. At weddings, birthday parties and work functions. The figures just don't make sense. Casey's seen the way that women throw themselves at Danny, the way that some of them just approach him out of the blue. That isn't something that happens to Casey.

Of course, it's not all because of Dan's looks. Dan's... smooth. He's confident and self-assured. He can just walk up to a girl and start a conversation. There's a quick introduction, or a funny line, and before you know it, she's laughing and giving Dan her number. Casey's seen it happen again and again.

It even happens with their fans. If their fan is a single woman, it's a sure bet she'll approach Dan for an autograph. Somehow, it's only the attached ones who approach Casey.

It's not that Casey minds. Not really. Well, okay, so he's occasionally jealous, but it's a minor twinge of an emotion. Mainly, he's just happy for Dan. Happy that Dan gets these opportunities, meets these women. Happy that even though Casey knows he's more traditionally good-looking, it's not a problem for Dan.

Still, the poll leaves him vaguely uncertain. He's seen Dan in action. He knows that the difference between them should be much greater.

***

Dana shuffles the papers in front of her, gathering them into a neat pile. "So, I'll see everybody at the eight o'clock rundown?"

"Actually," Natalie starts in a tone that Casey has learned not to trust. "I have one quick thing."

"Go ahead," Dana says with a sharp smile. Whatever Natalie's up to, Dana knows about it.

Natalie grins. If a shark tried to look cute, it would use that grin. "Well, the weekly poll concluded at five today, and I have the final results."

Casey groans. "Do we have to do this?"

Dana cocks her head at him. "Actually, Casey, I think we do."

Natalie looks at him with a concerned expression. "You can step out of the room, if you want to, Casey. We'll understand if you're too embarrassed to hear the numbers said aloud."

Casey glares at Natalie, but Dan says, "Go ahead. I'm sure Casey's fragile writer's ego can take it."

"Thank you, Dan," Casey says acidly, turning to his supposed partner.

Dan puts on a serious face, his brows drawing down and his jaw tightening. "Be a man, Casey. Roll with the punches."

Casey drops his head into his hand and sighs. "I hate all of you."

"Nice to see you get in the spirit of things, Casey," Dana chirps and gestures to Natalie.

"Well, the final number of votes was six hundred and forty one," Natalie announces, savoring her moment. "Of these votes, Casey received two hundred and eighty-nine reassurances of his good looks." Natalie pauses as Kim and Elliot break into golf claps.

"Hate. All of you," Casey grinds out, glaring at them.

Natalie laughs and Casey briefly considers crawling under the table. "Dan, on the other hand, received three hundred and fifty two."

The conference room breaks out in loud applause, and Dan stands up. He bows to each end of the table, and starts an impromptu speech. "First of all, I would like to thank my co-workers, who have supported me and stood by me in times of need. Secondly, I'd like to thank all of the women I have slept with. I had a great time, and I'm glad you've obviously told all your friends you had a great time, too. Thirdly, I would like to thank the guys in IT, since it was their brilliant idea to host this totally irrelevant and meaningless quiz." Casey leans over and grabs the back of Dan's shirt, giving him a hard tug that pulls him back down into his chair. "Hey, I wasn't finished enjoying my victory, Casey."

"You still have a script to finish, so maybe you could do that first?" Casey asks testily and could kiss Jeremy when he comes to his defense.

"Have you done the hockey feature, Dan? Because we do need that soon."

Dan grimaces, and turns to face Jeremy. "Way to ruin a celebration, Jeremy." Jeremy shrugs, and Dan sighs. "I'll get it to you by seven."

"Thanks," Jeremy replies, and shoots a quick grin to Casey when Dan turns to face Dana.

"Dana," Dan starts sweetly. "Could we go to Anthony's tonight to celebrate my crushing victory?"

"That sounds like a great idea." Dana smiles sweetly, but she's already readjusting the papers in front her and making notes, mind back on her show. "And, Casey can prove he's a gracious loser by buying us all a drink."

Casey groans. "Hate. You. All."

***

Casey writes up the rest of that evening's script with the numbers going around his head. 641. 352. 289. He finds himself scribbling the numbers in margins and eventually finds his calculator just to see the percentages. 54.91%. 45.09%. The seventy-vote difference sounds huge, but it's only a lead of ten percent.

Ten percent. Ten percent isn't a crushing victory. Ten percent isn't even particularly embarrassing. Ten percent is a fluke. It doesn't explain Dan's luck in bars. It really doesn't say anything about who's more attractive.

Casey ends up staring at the figures, tapping his pen against the top of the table, and thinking about it. Thinking about the difference in numbers, the difference in women, the difference in experiences. The numbers really don't reflect that at all.

When they get to the forties that night, Dan fills in an unexpected ninety seconds by announcing the results of the poll, encouraging everyone who voted for Dan to send in their photograph and phone number. Casey just smiles at the camera and hears "ten percent" echoing around his mind.

***

Dan's been enjoying his victory all night, laughing and grinning, larger than life and pleased with the world. Casey's been a good loser, quietly accepting the pitying looks that Natalie keeps shooting him and the sarcastic comments that the rest of the production team keep making. He bought everyone a drink, to show no hard feelings, and right now he's sitting quietly in a booth, nursing his beer and watching Dan talk to some leggy brunette at the bar.

Casey checks his watch and realizes that's it's barely one o'clock. It's still early for them, but he feels tired. He watches the young woman laugh and pass Dan a slip of paper, and decides to finish this drink and go home.

He sips his drink slowly, and looks around for the others. They've divided into three and fours, sitting at tables and are talking loudly. He could go over and join them, but he's just not in the mood. Finishing his drink, he's about to stand, but Dan sits down beside him, blocking his exit.

"Hey, Casey," Dan says easily, lips stretched into a wide grin.

"Hey." Casey smiles half-heartedly, and decides it's not worth the bother of trying to get Dan to move. He doesn't really want Dan to move anyway.

"Hey." Dan nods and his smile dims slightly. "How you doing?"

Casey shrugs and doesn't grimace. "Fine."

"Fine?" Dan raises an eyebrow.

"Fine. You?"

"I'm fine," Dan parrots, and then swallows more beer. "Actually, I'm better than fine. I'm good. Possibly even great."

"You got her number?" Casey asks, and wonders how many times Dan has done this. Has just met some woman in a bar and got her number. Then Casey wonders about ten percent and the accuracy of Internet polls.

Dan beams and waves a bar napkin. "Yep."

"Good for you," Casey replies and wishes he had another drink.

Dan's eyes narrow at Casey's friendly, impersonal tone. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Casey says more convincingly and smiles warmly. "Just tired."

"What's up, Casey?" Dan asks, and this time his tone is more serious. Of course Dan would be able to see through the warm smiles Casey uses on air. You couldn't spend this much time around someone else and not know their face, not know the subtle differences between a genuine smile and one for public consumption.

Casey shakes his head and sighs, feeling like an idiot. "It really isn't important, Dan. Totally irrelevant." Dan's lips press together tightly at the familiar phrasing and Casey sighs again. "It's really nothing."

"You know it wasn't exactly a crushing victory, right?" Dan asks as his eyes stay on Casey's.

Casey laughs, but it sounds hollow. "Yeah. I checked the figures. Less than a ten percent lead."

Dan looks up at the ceiling for a second, squinting in concentration. "Yeah, that'd be right. Wait. You calculated that?"

Casey shrugs. "Just wanted to know. It's really not important."

"Casey, I know it's not important."

"Yeah?"

Dan nods. "Yeah."

"Then why are we discussing it?" Casey looks across the room to where Dana is laughing heartily.

Dan lightly punches him on the shoulder, and Casey looks over. "Because it's not important, but it's still bugging you. And you get snipey when something's bugging you."

"Snipey?" Casey stares wide-eyed at Dan. "I do not get snipey."

"Yes, you do. You get snipey, and you get pernickety, and you start getting critical of everyone."

"Well, it's nice to see that one of those adjectives appears in the dictionary," Casey grumbles and wishes that he had gone home.

Dan shrugs. "If you're this annoyed, you're going to be a pain tomorrow."

"Dan, it's not this important," Casey says again, hoping that this time Dan will understand.

Dan looks over at Will and Chris, who seem to be playing thumb-wars. He keeps watching them as he speaks. "If it's not important, tell me. We're friends, Casey. I'm not going to think any less of you because you got annoyed over some Internet poll. Did you think any less of me getting jealous over the List?"

The List. Dan means the list of The 100 Most Influential People in Sports. That's how they both refer to it, but it's something Casey honestly hasn't thought about for a long time. "Of course not."

"Then why should this be any different?" Dan asks, his eyes still focused on the thumb-wars, as Chris wins.

Casey watches as Kim challenges Chris. "Because that made sense. Because if I was in your situation, I would have felt the same. Anyone would have."

Dan looks back at Casey and grins. "Well, not everyone would be upset at losing an Internet poll, but of the people I personally know, most would be."

Casey grins. "That's because most of the people you know work at Sports Night."

"Meaning?"

"We are a petty group of people. Easily upset."

Dan chortles into his glass. "True."

"This, this isn't important," Casey starts to say, but is suddenly distracted by Kim's victory shout. "I wouldn't have thought Kim had strong hands."

"She plays viciously," Dan says, looking up for a moment and then turning back to Casey. "You know, I'm not going to let you leave until you tell me. You know you want to."

"Actually, I know it's not important," Casey says and by now, it's the principle of it. It isn't embarrassing to admit the poll got to him. Dan sulked for three days after he beat him last time, so no-one's going to consider him childish for taking this seriously. Dan's just being too persistent in trying to make him talk and it's making Casey stubborn. Dan's stubborn too, but Casey knows he can out-stubborn Dan any day. "And I really don't want to talk about it."

"Casey," Dan says with a long-suffering sigh.

"Dan," he mocks back in the same tone of voice.

Dan squints at him, mouth pursed. "I'm just trying to be a good friend."

"And yet," Casey says with an exaggerated tilt of his head. "I still don't want to talk about it."

Dan crosses his arms and settles back into the chair. "I really won't move."

Casey raises his brows and gives Dan a firm look. "I could just go under the table."

Dan snorts. "I'd like to see you try."

Actually, Casey's a bit too tall to manage that with anything resembling grace. "I could climb over it."

"You could. Dana dances on the tables. It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen here."

Casey just gives Dan a dirty look, and then settles down to outwait Dan. Two can play at this game.

"That's your answer? You're just going to sit there and brood?" Dan taps his fingers on the table in a hurried rhythm.

Casey gives Dan his most obnoxious smirk. "You'll leave eventually, Dan."

Dan rolls his eyes. He taps his fingers some more and eventually starts to hum a cheery, irritating tune. Casey stretches his neck and lets his head rest against the wall behind them, staring up at the pale ceiling. Looking up, he looks at the mottled finish, the vaguely smoky look of the paint, and wonders about the last time anyone painted this place.

Eventually, Dan harrumphs his impatience and clears his throat. "Casey?"

Casey leaves his head lying back, and slants his gaze across to Dan. "Are you leaving, Dan?"

"No," Dan replies curtly, his features scrunching up in annoyance. Dan doesn't say anything else and Casey goes back to watching the ceiling, letting his eyes follow the corners of the walls.

"What are the two of you doing?" Dana asks. Casey turns his head and sees her and Natalie looking at them in disbelief.

"I'm sitting here until he talks," Dan says, self-righteously. "He's being stubborn."

Natalie snorts. "It's a modern day battle of wits."

"And both parties are short on ammunition," Dana adds and both women laugh.

"Well, since we're not testosterone-fuelled idiots, we're going home now. We'll see you guys tomorrow," Natalie says and they walk away, with Jeremy in tow.

Casey watches them go, watches them bicker over who's driving who home, and then turns to Dan. "Are you going home now?"

"Fine. You have used up my patience," Dan growls at him. "So, tomorrow, if you want to talk, I'm gonna be busy."

Casey shrugs nonchalantly. "See you tomorrow, Dan."

Dan stands up, searching his pockets for his keys. "There are times I wonder why someone didn't strangle you years ago."

Casey chuckles as he stands up. "Bye, Dan."

***

The next day, Dan's true to his word. He doesn't ask Casey to talk about it and he doesn't bring the subject up. In fact, he barely talks to Casey at all. Dan isn't rude; he just doesn't interrupt Casey's typing every ten minutes with some inane observation. It should make it easier to finish the script, but Casey's still struggling with his at half past nine.

Casey stares at the words and knows that it's fine. It's not good, or great, but it'll do. If he were Dan, he'd probably be shouting for assistance and mourning his sudden writers block. Normally, he'd do that too. It's just that he's not normal-Casey today. Instead, he's the guy who annoyed Dan just for sake of it.

He doesn't feel guilty about it. Dan shouldn't have been pushing him to talk. It was none of Dan's business.

Apart from the way that it kind of was. It was a poll about both of them. One of them had to win. And Dan had been basically gracious about it. He'd barely gloated. In fact, Casey thought he'd probably checked the scores more often than Dan.

There had been jokes about it all day, but none of them came from Dan. There were snide comments about differences in scores, but they all came from the control room. Dan just sat there and smiled at them. He didn't laugh out loud, he didn't join in on the taunting, he didn't bring it up in conversation. He just accepted it calmly, as if those numbers were perfectly reasonable, and for some reason, that annoyed Casey more than anything else.

***

Casey begged off going to Anthony's and let the others go without him. Natalie made some comment about him not being up to the unflattering comparison to Dan, and Dana joked that maybe he and Dan needed to go out drinking separately. Casey just smiled along with them and said he was tired.

If it was true, he would have gone home to bed. Instead, he went to their office and sat at their desk. He didn't have anything to do; he just didn't want to go out drinking. Probably best to give Dan a little time, to let this blow over when Dan gets distracted with some other girl's number.

Casey decides he might as well do something while he's here, so he sits at the desk and starts clearing out his drawers. He has a tendency to collect rubbish in his drawers: scraps of paper, bits of chewing gum wrapping, old scores, occasional newspaper cut-outs, and notes to himself with witty phrases for some future script. He clears out his first drawer, and moves on to the second, viciously throwing away the bits and pieces he knows he'll never remember to look for.

That's how he comes across the lists he wrote. A crumpled piece of paper, shoved up the back of the drawer, with his handwriting dividing the page into "Attractive" and "Good-looking". He reads over the lists and still agrees with them. Sally is still the most attractive woman he works with, even though she's not half as good-looking as Dana. He still thinks he's the most handsome guy in the office. He still knows Dan's the most attractive.

Casey picks up a pen and decides to finish that last list. He scribbles across the bottom corner until the ink starts to flow and then pauses with the pen held above Dan's name. He still doesn't know which name should come next.

Casey sighs in frustration. This should be easy. Nice and simple. But every time he tries to think about it, it isn't. He knows that Dan's attractive. You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice that. Not to notice the way Dan smiles with his eyes, the way Dan's entire face shows when he's been hurt, the way Dan bites his lower lip when he's writing. Impossible not to notice.

It just doesn't make sense that Casey hasn't noticed this about anyone else.

It doesn't make sense that he honestly has no idea about these details for Isaac or Jeremy. He has no idea of Dave's smile, or Elliot's eyes. He has no idea if Will's hands are wide and strong, if his fingers have slight calluses from sailing and golfing. He doesn't know the look on Chris' face when he bites into a really good chocolate cake. It doesn't make sense that he'd only know these things about Dan.

But Casey's realizing that he does. He does know these things about Dan. He knows how Dan looks drunk and mellow, he knows how Dan looks first thing in the morning, hung-over and scruffy. He knows the look on Dan's face when he's had a great date the night before, and he knows the way Dan avoids his eyes when he doesn't want to talk about something.

He spends nearly twelve hours a day with Dan, but he spends almost the same amount of time around the rest of them. He should know these things about everyone else. Casey strains his memory, trying to think of it, trying to think of any detail, but he can't. His mind seems too full of insignificant details, too full of Dan, to be able to remember anything else. In a fit of frustration, Casey throws his pen, pitching it hard enough to send it sailing through the open doorway.

"Ow!"

Of course, Casey would recognize that voice in a second. "Dan?"

"Yeah," Dan says, rubbing his neck as he walks into their office. "If you didn't want to see me, you could have just said."

Casey cringes. "Sorry. Accident. I didn't think anyone else was around."

"It's just a pity pen-throwing isn't a competitive sport. That really hurt." Dan settles back on the couch, his hand still at his neck.

Casey just shrugs in apology. "Didn't mean it."

"Yeah," Dan says, stretching his neck and spreading both arms along the back of the couch. Casey can't help noticing the way Dan's shirt stretches across his chest, the way Dan's throat moves as he swallows and speaks. "So, is there a reason you're brooding alone in our semi-dark office?"

"The lamp's on," Casey protests weakly.

"As I said, semi-dark. The lights aren't on in the rest of the office, I notice," Dan points out with a smirk.

"Dana had already turned them out. I left, and then doubled back for my coat." Casey shrugs. "No point in turning all the lights back on."

"And, what? You forgot your way out?" Dan asks speculatively, looking out their office door in concern. "I could draw you a map, if that's the problem."

"I decided to clear out my desk drawers."

"I appreciate you clearing that mess that you call a drawer," Dan says, smiling. It's a running joke that the only mess Casey leaves in their office is hidden out of sight. "But even you're not so pathetic that you'd willingly spend Friday night organizing your workplace."

"I could be," Casey retorts without thinking.

Dan chortles. "You could be, but you're not."

"I..." There isn't anything that Casey can say that won't insult himself further.

Dan sees the stranded look on his face and laughs. "So?"

"I just..." He could say that he didn't want to spend time around Dan when his company clearly wasn't wanted. He could say that he'd had a long day, and was tired, but since he was at the office, that was clearly a lie. "I just..." Casey sighs and shrugs, then remembers Natalie's comment. "I didn't want to sit around and be unfavorably compared."

Dan rests his elbows on his spread knees, and leans forward with his chin on his hands. "It really doesn't matter, Casey. It's only ten percent difference. Ten percent is nothing."

"I know!" Casey explodes. "It's nothing. It's barely any difference. It's barely a difference at all!"

Dan blinks at him. "You're upset that I won?"

"No. I... No," Casey says, breathing deeply and wishing this made sense. "It's not that you won. I expected you to win."

Dan's eyes widen, and he runs his tongue across his lips as he thinks. "You're upset about the margin I won at?"

"That's incredible grammar for a writer," Casey says, edging away from answering.

Dan isn't distracted at all. "Don't skirt the question, Casey. Is that what's upsetting you?"

"It's stupid, okay? It's ten percent. That's nothing," Casey says while looking down, avoiding Dan's eyes.

"So I should have won by more?" Dan's brows are lowered in confusion.

"Yes! You should have won by a lot more. It should have been a real victory, Dan, not..." Casey trails off, which is just as well. He has no idea what he's saying.

"That makes no sense, Casey," Dan says slowly, frowning. "Unless you were... you didn't cheat, did you? This isn't your guilty conscience saying that some of your votes were rigged?"

"I didn't cheat, Dan. It's just--" Casey sighs, frustrated. "You should have won. I've seen you in bars. I've seen the way women throw themselves at you. You should have won by a landslide."

Dan's still frowning, his lower lip almost forming a pout. "Okay, Casey? I did win. Also, just because the women attracted to me are... bold, doesn't mean that I'm far more attractive."

"It's not..." And Casey doesn't know what it's not. He just knows it isn't about that. It isn't about his fans being shy, it isn't about Casey being attractive, it's about... He really doesn't know. "It's stupid. It really isn't important."

Dan leans forward even closer, and if he's not careful, he's going to overbalance and topple off the couch. "Which I'd agree with, apart from the fact that it's made you jumpy all day."

"I haven't been jumpy," Casey says, but he has been off his game all day. Dan's been quiet and he's been unable to write a witty phrase, and everyone keeps joking about something that's annoying him for all the wrong reasons. "Have I?"

"You have, Casey," Dan says, standing up and walking over to the desk. Dan flattens both hands against the top and leans across the desk, over Casey. Looking down, Dan spots the lists Casey was writing. "What's this?"

Casey tries to grab it, but Dan snatches it off the desk first. "Dan..."

Dan ignores him and reads it in the lamplight. After a moment, he asks, "You really think Sally's sexier than Kim?"

Casey blinks and tries to keep up with the conversation. "Longer legs."

Dan rolls his eyes. "You are missing some of Kim's very fine assets."

"Like her lack of secretarial skills?" Casey teases back.

"Well, I would have said it had more to do with low cut tops and short skirts," Dan said with a leer. "How come you didn't finish the list?" Casey doesn't have time to think of an answer, before Dan asks, "You think Will's more appealing than me?"

Casey shakes his head. "No. I think he's better looking."

"What's the difference?" Dan asks, still skimming the list, and Casey has a sudden flash of deja vu.

"It's... visually pleasing, aesthetically pleasing, but attractive is..." Casey takes a deep breath, and Dan interrupts him.

"How much you're attracted to the person?" Dan asks kindly, with a secretive smile that Casey doesn't recognize.

"Well, yeah," Casey agrees, slightly distracted by Dan's small smile, by the gentle curve of his lips, by the soft gleam in his eyes.

"How come you didn't finish this list?" Dan's voice is soft and warm, and he's leaning over the desk again.

Dan seems just a little too close and Casey has to swallow before he can speak. "I didn't know how."

Dan licks his lips and Casey notices the way they gleam wetly in the lamplight. "Why?"

"Because I know," Casey starts and has to look away. He looks down, watching Dan's hands against the desktop, noticing the way that Dan's pressing so hard that his fingertips are white. "Because I know you're attractive, and I, I don't." Casey stops again, breathing deeply, feeling his heart pound in his chest. "I don't notice that stuff about the others. I don't notice the way that they look and the way that they smile. I don't notice their hands, or their shoulders, or their lips. I..." Casey lets his breath out in a hiss and closes his eyes, trying really hard not to think about what he just said, about what it means.

Dan sounds a little breathless. "You notice that about me?"

Casey opens his mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. He breathes in, trying to calm himself, and swallows. But he can only nod.

Dan doesn't speak for a long, heart-wrenching moment, and when he does, he hisses, "Case." It's a low sound that sends shivers down Casey's spine, that makes him look up at Dan.

"I notice you," Casey blurts out and this time he recognizes Dan's smile. He's seen this expression on Dan's face before. It's the same smile Dan wore when he walked off with Rebecca, the tape in his hand.

"Good," Dan says huskily, still smiling. That beaming smile means a lot. Love and lust; hope and joy. It means more than Casey can define. "Because I notice you, too."

"Oh," Casey breathes, frozen for a second. Then, he leans up and meets Dan's lips with something far too soft to be called a kiss, something far too timid, too gentle.

Dan wraps a firm hand around Casey's neck, and bends down lower as his fingers clutch at Casey's short hair. This time, it's a kiss. It's wet and it's hungry, Dan's tongue chasing his in a way that has nothing to do with doubt and everything to do with need.

He's clinging to Dan's shoulders, digging his fingers into the soft cotton and holding Dan close. Dan's almost climbing across the desk, one knee braced awkwardly against the wooden top, as he leans lower, tilting his head and sucking on Casey's tongue. Dan nips at his lower lip and then pulls back, and Casey's lips sting slightly from Dan's teeth.

"Casey, it's Friday night, and we both have a show tomorrow--" Dan says, and Casey cuts him off with another kiss, running his tongue across that bright, giddy smile.

Dan groans low in his throat, but pulls away again, resting his forehead against Casey's. "Casey, we need to go."

Dan smiles and Casey's sure his own grin is just as goofy. "I'm pretty happy here, Dan."

Dan's eyes drop to Casey's mouth as talks and Casey drags his lower lip between his teeth just to see Dan's eyes darken. Dan closes his eyes for a second, and then speaks. "But wouldn't you be happier at home?"

Casey shakes his head and leans up for another kiss. It's slow and deep, and Casey mumbles around it, "I'm happier here with you."

"Well, I'd be happier," Dan starts, and then gets distracted in a kiss that makes Casey stand out of his chair just to follow that warm mouth. Dan pulls back, and Casey follows, leaning across the desk and groaning. Finally, Dan takes a shuffled step backwards, pulling just out of Casey's reach. "I'd be happier if we weren't in our office."

"We have a couch," Casey offers, loving the way the suggestion makes Dan lick his lips and stare at Casey.

"I have a bed," Dan replies huskily, his eyes following Casey's body as Casey walks around the desk.

Casey grins, and says, "Couch."

"I have a car," Dan says, stepping away from Casey and towards their coats.

"Couch," Casey says again, flopping down onto the piece of furniture in question. He stretches back on it, remembering how good Dan looked with his arms across the back of it, and groans, "Dan?"

Dan takes a half-step towards Casey, and then walks determinedly over to the coat rack. He grabs his coat, and throws Casey's down to him. "I have a car, I have a bed, and I have no possibility of Dana walking in on us."

Casey finds that thought very sobering. "Good point."

"I do occasionally make them," Dan says, but his voice is distracted. "Just... come on."

Casey pulls his coat on, making no effort to hide the way he's leering at Dan. "Any particular reason?"

"The longer we hang around here, the worse my driving's going to be," Dan says, and then steps forward for a desperate kiss that just doesn't last long enough. "Let's go."

Casey follows Dan out the door and catches a glimpse of their reflection in the dark windows. If he was being critical, he'd say that they looked disheveled, hair sticking up at odd angles and shirt collars somewhat askew. Of course, it's also true to say that they look extremely attractive, well-kissed lips and lust-darkened eyes. Observing Dan waiting for the elevator, seeing the way he watches Casey through dark lashes, Casey has to lean in for a quick kiss and really doesn't care how they look.

***

"The bearded lady has a crush on me?" Dan asks in the middle of their third C-break and Casey grins. He can see the mystified expressions on the faces around them, so he has to play along.

"She does indeed," Casey says with a smile in his voice, turning to give Dan his full attention.

The corners of Dan's mouth quirk in a grin. "Why?"

"She has a thing for circus clowns," Casey says, ignoring Dana's squawk of confusion.

Dan shuffles the script in front of him, and almost sounds serious when he says, "Is she cute? Should I ask for her number?"

"Total babe," Casey says, and hears the warning of ten seconds back to airtime. "When she shaves."


End file.
